It
seems that the concept of innovation is catching on in new and
unexpected ways in St. Louis. People in other parts of the nation
have been watching our community’s entrepreneurial energy spur
downtown revitalization, life sciences, and other activities.
But there is indication that something else might be starting
to happen. That is the feeling around “SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP”.
The concept of social entrepreneurship has been around for years;
it was just not known by that name. Goodwill Industries, Salvation
Army Thrift Stores, and St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Stores are
examples, as is McMurphy’s Grill, an offshoot of the St. Patrick’s
Center, and The Scholar Shop.
“The term ‘social entrepreneurship’ was coined about 10 years
ago,” says Kathleen Buescher, president and CEO of Provident
Inc. “About three or four years ago, we put together a loose,
non-organized group of volunteers to see what we could do to
increase the interest and knowledge about social entrepreneurship,
and that was the beginning of the Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship
(ASE).
The ASEs stated mission is “to improve the St. Louis region
by expanding social entrepreneurship, “ Buescher says. Its goals
are to increase awareness of social entrepreneurship, educate
investors and practitioners, facilitate matches among like-minded
individuals and groups, and monitor the region’s progress toward
establishing and advancing social enterprise. Every other month
ASE sponsors a community exchange at the office of a nonprofit
which is practicing social entrepreneurship.
A second happening is the SSDN (formerly Southside Day Nursery)
annual award recognizing the region’s most noteworthy social
entrepreneur. In 2005 they selected Jim Jacobsen of the Kellwood
Corporation for his substantial philanthropic efforts. In 2006
it was Theresa Wilson, the founder of The Blessing Basket Project;
a fast growing not-for-profit venture that imports handcrafted
baskets for sale in the U.S. market. Their mission is to reduce
poverty in third world countries by creating sustainable jobs
and paying prosperity wages.
Marlene Levine, SSDN CEO, says that the origination was founded
“to prevent poverty. We were an employment agency and child
care center and had been helping family home child care homes
get licensed.
In 2002, SSDN founded the Cherokee Street Business Incubator.
“This serves three purposes,” Levine says. “We support existing
businesses, we attract businesses to the community, and we provide
incubation for small businesses.
A third thing is the Youthbridge Association and Washington
University partnership to create the new Social Entrepreneurship
and Innovation Competition (SEIC). This activity, done with
the support of ASE, provided $105,000 to not-for-profit ventures
looking for startup funding that would lead to self sufficient
social programs. The winners included:
• $35,000 YouthBridge Award to Boomerang
Press—an ArtWorks Enterprise that uses art and entrepreneurship
to generate revenues to sustain their youth mentoring programs.
• $30,000 Incarnate Word Award to REAP
which trains advocates that reduce domestic violence by teaching
women economic empowerment.
• $25,000 Skandalaris Center Award to
Meds & Food for Kids that reduces child malnutrition in Haiti
by using an innovative, nutrient-rich peanut butter paste.
• $15,000 to the winning teams which were
founded by or supported by Washington University students including
$5,000 for the Panda Athletic Gym.
All this activity caused us to think, “Is St. Louis starting
to get a deeper innovation culture that is spreading to different
areas? Is it possible that entrepreneurial spirit from the coasts
is immigrating to our region?”
To find out what is happening we called three people, Dr. William
Peck, Innovate St. Louis, the recently-established spin off
from the Technology Gateway Alliance at RCGA; Gary Dollar president
of the United Way; and Dr. Edward Lawlor, dean of the George
Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University,
to get their take on this concept. What we heard was a pleasant
and encouraging surprise. We learned that the innovation activity
is larger than just the three things we had identified.
“I think it’s fair to say that entrepreneurship is a very important
component of social enhancement,” Peck says. “Many people who
are community leaders that produce an improved social environment
are actually entrepreneurs. With social entrepreneurship, you
have one or more classic entrepreneurs who have a vision and
pursue it relentlessly, often with limited resources, to produce
something of benefit to a given population.”
“We’re a fledgling organization just getting underway,” he continues.
“The idea is what can Innovate St. Louis do to assist in the
development and promotion of social entrepreneurship in the
St. Louis region.”
Lawlor says the roots of social entrepreneurship run “quite
deep” and that there have been conversations and interactions
to promote this action.
“I think there’s a particular chemistry between some of the
leadership here in town,” he says. “Youthbridge and Olin Cup
is an example. We have agencies and entrepreneurs who are on
the other side of the street. Many cities have one side, but
not the other. That is, they have some social venture philanthropists
who are looking for things to do, but they don’t necessarily
have executives and agency leadership who want to do it.
“I think here we have examples of both providers, organizations
and funders who want to move this along.”
Dollar says he thought that the United Way’s role in assisting
social entrepreneurship was “what we do best, and that is to
convene people. When people get together, they come up with
good ideas and find new ways of working together. Does anyone
have an idea or practice that is making a unique kind of impact
around an issue? How do we share that with others? How do we
duplicate that?
“We see people in the community who have good ideas and want
to try them,” he says. “Kathleen and Marlene have done this
with a not-for-profit agency. They understand that for children
to do well, families have to do well, and there have to be sources
for them. It’s very logical in terms of how they approach the
challenge of their mission.”
Under the capable leadership of these leaders and others, social
entrepreneurship will continue to thrive in the St. Louis region.
